WEEA ProgramThe Women's
Educational Equity Act, known as WEEA, was first enacted by Congress
in 1974 and amended and extended several times since. The purpose of the
law is to make education more equitable for girls and women by providing
incentives and assistance to educational institutions and community groups.
In contrast to Title IX, which
includes sanctions for noncompliance, WEEA provides grants and contracts
to all levels of education for the development, implementation, and evaluation
of programs of national, statewide, or general significance to overcome
sex stereotyping and achieve educational equity for girls and women. The
key priorities of WEEA have included Title IX compliance, educational
equity for racial or ethnic minorities, and educational equity for women
and girls with disabilities. The program was among the first to fund innovative
work to increase math and science achievement for girls and to increase
female participation in nontraditional careers.

Since
it was established, the WEEA Program has funded more than 700
projects throughout the United States, as well as a number of contracts,
including the WEEA Equity Resource Center at EDC.
These grants address critical educational issues, including career education;
sexual harassment and gendered violence; math, science, and technology
education; leadership development; women's history; and bilingual education.

As a
federal program, WEEA has helped to shape equitable outcomes for an entire
generation of girls and women. WEEA grantees
continue to offer leadership for inclusive education reform, and the thousands
of participants in WEEA projects are at the core of the development of
equity initiatives in education, work, and public life. Funds from WEEA
have supported Title IX's vision, helping the country to reach such benchmarks
as those noted by the U.S. Department of Education in Title
IX: 25 Years of Progress (1997):

In 1999, girls
and boys had similar achievement levels in mathematics.

In 1994, 63 percent
of female high school graduates ages 16 to 24 were enrolled in college,
compared with 43 percent in 1973.

In 1994, 27 percent
of women earned a bachelor's degree, compared with 18 percent in 1971.

In 1995, women
made up 37 percent of all athletes in college, compared with 15 percent
in 1972.

In 1996, girls
constituted 39 percent of high school athletes, compared with 7.5 percent
in 1994; women received 38 percent of all medical degrees, compared
with 9 percent in 1972; and women attained 43 percent of all law degrees,
compared with 7 percent in 1972, and 44 percent of all doctoral degrees,
compared with 25 percent in 1977.

A small
program, with no more than $3 million in annual funding, WEEA continues
to help create equitable education for all students while it raises awareness
of emerging educational issues, including gender equity for students with
disabilities and the underrepresentation of women and girls of color in
the sciences.

The
WEEA Program office funds and administers the grant program. For more
information on WEEA and its funding, contact Diane Austin at 202-260-1280.